
HERESURRECTION 
A FACT ? 



JAMES SAMUEL LILLEY 



LIBRARY OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT 




Class 3^X23^ 
Book «U n?>A- 
Gop>iig1iti\? 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



Was the Resurrection 
a Fact? 

AND OTHER ESSAYS 

BY 
JAMES SAMUEL LILLEY 




BOSTON: RICHARD G. BADGER 
TORONTO: THE COPP CLARK CO., LIMITED 



Copyright, 1916, by James S. Lilley 



All Rights Reserved 






Made in the United States of America 



The Gorham Press, ^Bos^ton, U. S. A. 

SEP 19 1916 
©CU437745 



PREFACE 

These Essays are published in compliance with 
requests kindly made by persons who have read 
my contributions in various periodicals. 

I desire to express my heart-felt thanks to nu- 
merous theologians and philosophers for helpful 
suggestions which have enabled me to present 
these Essays. 

The purpose of this volume is an inspirational 
one, and I humbly hope the reader will find stim- 
ulus in the perusal of this little book. 

James Samuel Lilley. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



"Was the Resurrection a Fact?" ... 9 

"A Crisis in the Church" 19 

"Is the Infinite Knowable ?" 27 

"The Holy Book" 39 

"A Purpose in Life" 56 



WAS THE RESURRECTION 
A FACT? 



"WAS THE RESURRECTION A FACT?" 

IN everyday matter-of-fact life the element of 
uncertainty has to be reckoned with. An ap- 
parently healthy man to-day may be seriously sick 
to-morrow. A man of business may be prosper- 
ous to-day and to-morrow be the victim of a fluc- 
tuating market. A merchant boards a train at 
night in order to reach a distant city for business 
on the morrow. He leisurely rolls into a berth 
in the sleeper without asking a single question of 
the porter concerning the efficiency of the train 
crew, the condition of the rolling stock, the safety 
of the track. He has traveled over that line be- 
fore, and believes he will be carried safely to his 
destination. If asked to give a "reason," he 
would find it difficult if not impossible. He can- 
not be "certain" that he will arrive safely at the 
destined point. The sun has risen and set in the 
past, the moon has traveled her course in silvery 
brightness ; the stars have twinkled in the sky — in 
the past. Have we a "reason" to believe there 
will be a recurrence of the greater and lesser 

9 



io "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

lights? Seed-time and harvest have appeared in 
the past; can we give a reason, can we state with 
certainty the seasons will return? 

Scientists tell us that around us everywhere in 
Nature there is "fixed, inexorable law," and as 
a result, many people refuse to accept the miracles 
recorded in the New Testament. A '"law" has 
been defined as "a rule established by an authority 
able to enforce its will." On this point Thomas 
Cooper says, "There are no 'laws of nature,' in 
the strict sense of the words. A law must have a 
law-maker; and the Almighty and All-wise Law- 
maker would never make laws for granite and 
sandstone, and coal and chalk — for none of these 
can understand a law, and none can be punished 
for disobeying it." He prefers the term "facts of 
nature," because daily occurrences in nature are 
facts. Granting the use of the term "law" for 
actions in nature, and if a law-making body has 
the power to change or annul a law, is it not rea- 
sonable to believe that the great Law-maker in 
the execution of His designs may make a change 
in what we call "natural law"? 

If an Intelligent Creator made all things, and 
there is indubitable evidence of Design in the uni- 
verse, surely He could transcend the known laws 
of nature, and that transcendence would appear to 



"Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 1 1 

be a miracle. He is responsible for the working 
of His laws, and may He not, if in His purpose, 
bring to pass an event contrary to the established 
course of things? 

Did Jesus Christ actually rise from the dead, 
or did the disciples imagine they saw and heard 
Him, after the Crucifixion? 

That "Jesus Christ was crucified in the nine- 
teenth year of the reign of Tiberius, " is an his- 
torical fact undoubted. The enemies of Christ 
were jubilant over an apparent victory; His dis- 
ciples were sorrow-stricken. The foes of Christ 
were hopeful that soon the institution He founded 
would be shattered: His followers were dazed by 
disappointment. 

Doom seemed stamped upon the Christian re- 
ligion. St. Luke says that when Jesus appeared — 
after the Crucifixion — to two disciples on the way 
to Emmaus he observed they were sad. "What 
manner of communications are these that ye have 
one to another as ye walk and are sad?" They 
were bereaved. Their Master was taken from 
them. They were disappointed. The stranger 
talked with them at length and they became so 
interested that when they arrived at the village 
they invited him to abide with them, and he ac- 
cepted the invitation. "As they sat at meat," 



12 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?' 

their eyes were opened — they recognized their 
Master. And as their joy bubbled into ecstasy 
He disappeared from view. So happy were they 
that immediate steps were taken to return to Jeru- 
salem to tell the glad news. They "found the 
eleven gathered together, and them that were with 
them, saying. The Lord is risen indeed. And as 
they thus spake. Jesus himself stood in the midst 
of them, and saith unto them. 'Peace be unto 
you.' ' They were evidently amazed at the inter- 
ruption of their conference. Was it a spirit they 
saw? Such an idea vanished when the visitor said, 
"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I my- 
self: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not 
flesh and bones, as ye see me have." They were 
enraptured with the joy resultant from the pres- 
ence of their Risen Lord. After meat and further 
conversation on the work of the kingdom, "He led 
them out as far as Bethany, and lifted up his 
hands and blessed them. And it came to pa 
while he blessed them, he was parted from them 
and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped 
him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." 

There are critics who contend that Jesus never 
died on the cross: they say He simply swooned 
and then revived in the grave. The picture thus 
presented is that of a man, delivered from the 



"Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 13 

cross, bloodstained and helpless; and in a half 
dead state impressing men that he is a conquering 
hero. Does it not seem preposterous to believe 
that any man could survive the thrust of a spear 
a hand-breadth in the side of the body? And 
what about the assurance of death the centurion 
would have to give to Pilate before delivering the 
body to Joseph of Arimathea ? 

Then there are those who declare that Jesus 
Christ never rose from the dead; but while His 
body decayed in the tomb, the disciples, by a 
stretch of the imagination, believed they saw Him 
alive and their ideal creations took on propor- 
tions of actualities. They saw visions and 
dreamed dreams, until Jesus became a reality. 

If that were so, why did the women go to the 
tomb in the hope of embalming the body of 
Jesus? Why did Peter and John hesitate at the 
mouth of the grave? Why were the disciples 
gloomy and sad on the Emmaus road? Why did 
Thomas declare he would not believe Jesus had 
risen, except he saw in His hands the print of the 
nails — and thrust his hand into His side? Why 
were the people to whom Jesus appeared — after 
the crucifixion — surprised? 

The grave was near-by and could have been ex- 
amined. When the opponents of Christ heard 



14 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

of the Resurrection they could have presented the 
body and banished the delusion, if such it was. 

The emphasis, in the teaching of Peter and 
John, of the resurrection of Christ greatly incensed 
the Sadducees who, in their fury, persecuted these 
witnesses. Priests and Rabbis forbade them speak 
in the name of Jesus; but their love for the risen 
Christ was so strong, and their zeal so intense, 
that they reckoned it an honor, to be scourged for 
His sake. 

Stephen, the Evangelist, burned with sincere de- 
votion to Jesus Christ. Learned rabbis were sur- 
prised to find in him a cultured exponent of 
Christianity. 

Defeated in controversy, the masters of the syn- 
agogues became demagogues, and, stirring up the 
people, the attention of the Authorities was 
aroused. 

He was charged with Blasphemy. In his final 
address he defended himself fearlessly and cour- 
ageously. They could not comprehend that Jesus 
"came not to destroy but to fulfill the Law." 
Stephen's evident power and apparent authority 
angered the members of the Sanhedrin. He was 
carried outside the gate of the city and stoned. 

The unswerving loyalty and the unbounded 
faith of Stephen, fanned into a mighty flame the 



"Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 15 

zeal of the other disciples. 

Regardless of the keen persecution which fol- 
lowed, the Spirit of the Living Christ remained 
unquenched in His followers. The conflagration 
of Christianity spread, and the boundaries of the 
kingdom were enlarged. 

Saul of Tarsus, the enemy of Christ, by the mys- 
terious influence of the Spirit, became transformed 
into a peerless propounder of the principles of 
Christianity. It is suggested that Paul's conver- 
sion was due to a sun-stroke, which afterwards 
affected his mind. If that were so do not his 
epistles supply extraordinary degrees of sound- 
ness of judgment, and soberness of thought? Paul 
was convinced of the fact that Christ was risen 
from the dead, and that thought tuned his life 
into harmony with the Divine will. If he were of 
unsound mind, he certainly displayed qualities of 
a master leader in a movement that was destined 
to change the moral map of the world. 

During the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero, 
the Christians were bitterly persecuted. "Some 
were crucified, some were covered with the skins 
of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs. 
Some were thrown to the tigers and lions in the 
amphitheater. Gray-haired men were forced to 
fight with trained gladiators. Worst of all, one 



1 6 'Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

night Nero's gardens were lighted by Christians, 
who, their clothes having been smeared with pitch 
and ignited, were placed as blazing torches along 
the course on which the emperor, heedless of their 
agony, drove his chariot in the races." 

The heroic faith displayed by the Christians 
tended to soften the hearts of many enemies. The 
faith for which they suffered and died could not 
be crushed out, because it had its source in the 
Ever-living Christ. 

It is recorded that when Constantine marched 
against Maxentius, a rival, u he saw the luminous 
trophy of the Cross in the sky, placed above the 
meridian sun, and inscribed with the following 
words, 'In hoc vince.' " In a subsequent battle 
Maxentius was defeated, and Constantine made 
Christianity the State religion. 

How can the remarkable and indisputable rise 
of Christianity, with such a universal influence, be 
explained aside from the fact of the Resurrection? 

Edersheim says : "The unpreparedness of the 
disciples, their previous opinions, their new testi- 
mony, unto martyrdom, the foundation of the 
Christian Church, the testimony of so many, singly 
and in company — point with unerring certainty to 
the historical truth of the Resurrection." 

The central miracle of Christianity is the Resur- 



"Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 17 

rection of Jesus Christ; and upon this fact the 
Church is built. If the sun were to be dashed from 
its place, we are told, ruin would follow to the 
worlds whose center he is. Eliminate the Resur- 
rection from the fabric of Christianity and the 
Church will fall to pieces. 

The following story of a dramatic conversion 
is told by a missioner: "A man well-brought up, 
who expresses himself with the accent of an edu- 
cated man, as a youth went hot-headed into sin. 
He tired out the sympathy of his friends. They 
shook their heads in despair and said, Tt's no 
use.' Nobody would employ him, nobody wanted 
him. He was homeless, penniless, friendless, help- 
less. Driven to the last extremity he crept with 
the out-of-works into the corridor of the central 
hall. Drink had coarsened his nature, robbed him 
of manhood, ruined his character, clothed him in 
rags, and covered him with shame. He was in- 
vited with other men of the Shelter to a Class- 
meeting. A deaconess was the leader. The testi- 
monies he heard gripped him; the tenderness of 
the leader, as she spoke of the Living Christ 
melted him, with the result that he sought the 
Lord and found Him. To-day he is a prosperous 
man and a useful member of the Mission." 

The religion of the Risen Christ transforms the 



1 8 "Was the Resurrection a Factf" 

life through a changed heart. 

"He, who bore all pain and loss, 
Comfortless upon the Cross; 
Lives in glory now on high, 
Pleads for us, and hears our cry; 

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! 
Now he bids us tell abroad how the lost may be 

restored. 
How the penitent, forgiven ; how we too may enter 
heaven; 

Hallelujah ! Praise the Lord t" 



L 

■I 3 

f rnirl . 

J J! bns 
•rgibi 3rTt 



"A CRISIS IN THE CHURCH" 

DURING the year of opposition, Jesus gath- 
ered his disciples together at Cesarea Phil- 
ippi, for the purpose of a conference on the work 
of the kingdom. It was during this meeting that 
He propounded the following important ques- 
tions: "Whom do men say that I, the son of 
man, am?" "Whom say ye that I am?" The re- 
ply to the first question clearly shows the doubt- 
ful position Jesus occupied in the public mind. 
"Some say thou art John the Baptist: some Elias: 
and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." 
The answer to the second question, however, con- 
tained no uncertain sound : H Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God." It throbbed with the 
life of deep conviction that must have given as- 
surance to the heart of Jesus. "Thou art Peter, 
upon this rock I will build my church." In regard 
to this passage of scripture, Dr. Monro Gibson 
has the following to say : "Now at last, therefore, 
the foundation is laid, and the building of the spir- 
itual temple is begun. The words are quite nat- 

19 



20 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

ural and free from most, if not from all, the diffi- 
culties in which perverse human ingenuity has en- 
tangled them ; if only we bear in mind the circum- 
stances and surroundings. The little group is 
standing on one of the huge rocky flanks of mighty 
Hermon, for this region was famous for its great 
temples. Now, when we remember that the two 
words our Lord uses (Petros and Petra) for 
'rock' in our version have not precisely the same 
meaning — the one Petros, Peter, signifying a piece 
of rock, a stone ; the other Petra suggesting rather 
the great bed-rock out of which these stones are 
cut and on which they are lying — we can under- 
stand that while the reference is certainly in the 
first place to Peter himself the main thing is, the 
great fact just brought out that he is resting, in the 
strength of faith, on God as revealed in His Son. 
Thus, while Peter is certainly the piece of rock, 
the first stone which is laid upon the foundation 
on which all the faithful build, and therefore is 
in a sense the foundation stone, yet the founda- 
tion of all is the Bed-Rock, on which the first stone 
and all other stones are laid." 

The Church is primarily a Spiritual institution, 
and consists of organized people, who have been 
baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, and 
have declared faith in Jesus Christ. The Church 



"A Crisis in the Church" 21 

contains "the revelation brought by Jesus Christ." 
The Church is the storehouse of divine truth, and 
the divinely appointed instrument to aid men in 
the work of soul-development. The spiritual life 
yearns for direction, and only in the soul-sense can 
man be viewed rightly. Whence high ideals? 
Whence the faculty in man which blames him when 
he does wrong, and praises him when he does 
right? 

Can those who believe in the theory that "noth- 
ing exists, save atoms and empty space," answer? 
If thought results from atomic action, how can one 
form of conduct be termed worthy and another 
unworthy? Vast multitudes can bear witness to 
the fact that the Holy Spirit's influence has trans- 
formed a myriad lives. 

When sight gives place to faith, doubt to be- 
lief, and stubbornness to submission, the songs of 
Sion are sung with boundless enthusiasm. He who 
seeks to solve spiritual problems by purely intel- 
lectual methods will utterly fail. When Arthur 
Hallam, Tennyson's bosom friend, died, the poet 
"drank of the bitter cup, which Infinite Wisdom 
often prepares to purify the soul and fit it for 
higher deeds." He was sore grieved, and his 
loneliness seemed entire. His heart was very 
heavy. By and by he perceived in the overhang- 



22 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

ing cloud a silver lining. His sorrow was turned 
into joy; his darkness into light. Life became 
fuller to him when he let go the shadow for the 
substance, and sang: 

"Strong Son of God: immortal love, 
Whom we that have not seen thy face, 
By faith and faith alone embrace; 
Believing where we cannot prove." 

The place to develop the higher life is the 
Church of Jesus Christ. "Some years ago a coun- 
try boy was riding in the cars toward Philadelphia. 
In the seat next to him was an old man. During 
the conversation they had, the youth mentioned 
that he was bound for Philadelphia to look for 
work. The aged man asked him about his letters. 
'Oh, yes,' said the lad, 'here is one from my old 
employer. Here is one from my ,old school- 
teacher, and here is one from my physician.' Is 
that all? Have you not one from your minister? 
'Yes, I have that too.' 'Well, my young friend, 
I would advise you to present that letter to some 
church at once. I am an old sea captain and I 
have found out, by bitter experience, that it is 
safer when in harbor to tie up to a wharf, than 
to anchor out in mid-stream; to be floated around 



"A Crisis in the Church" 23 

in the tides. By bitter experience I have also 
found out that no young Christian is safe, unless 
he is bound up in Christian fellowship with other 
Christians." 

He who has kept in touch with religious condi- 
tions, has discerned that the Church is passing 
through a critical period. The question naturally 
arises u As a social, educational and moral force, 
where is the Church?" 

Social organizations outside the Church rise 
up on every hand. Institutions for intellectual dis- 
cipline abound, and ethical societies increase. 

Why is the increase in church membership so 
alarmingly small? We are informed there are 
more churches to-day than ever before, and "the 
body of ministers is increasing." With an increase 
in the number of sacred edifices, an increase in the 
number of ministers and voluntary workers, better 
equipped machinery, splendidly prepared machin- 
ists, an abundance of raw material, are not the 
results pitiably small? What is the reason? Per- 
haps there has been an abnormal loss by death, or 
withdrawal of members? If not, has the Church 
used her resources to meet the demands of modern 
life? 

Will not an undue emphasis of "the Social Idea" 
in the church bring with it a conscious loss of 



24 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

power? Of course it is a part of the business 
of the church to consider individual social needs, 
and all that relates to the social conditions ; but is 
that her chief duty? There is an instinct in man 
that calls for entertainment. Is it the function of 
the church to merely entertain? Entertainment, 
as such, is only an effervescive force that is quickly 
spent. The soul is an eternal principle which is 
edified only by the assurance and permanence of 
spiritual power. If "the kingdom of God is not 
of this world," and the church contains the reve- 
lation brought by Jesus Christ, it is apparent that 
the chief work of the church is spiritual. Some 
time since a minister resigned from his parish be- 
cause "the people of this age did not care for the 
Gospel message." A daily paper took the matter 
up editorially, and commented "that the Sermon 
on the Mount was as vigorous and virile to-day as 
it ever was, and could get a hearing now as read- 
ily as in the first century; and that the man with 
a Gospel message was as welcome in any com- 
munity 7 , now as ever. The failure was the man 
without the message." 

One of the most successful ministers of this age 
says that he preaches the way of salvation and 
has never had to beg for a hearing. "The longer 
I live the more profoundly I am convinced that 



"A Crisis in the Church" 25 

nothing 'draws' like the great magnet; as the 
Master said, 'I, if I be lifted up, will draw all 
men unto me.' " 

Let there be emphasis laid upon the value of 
worship in the sacred temples of the Most High, 
and the spiritual atmosphere will be raised. It is 
astounding to know that the following "reasons" 
have, among others, been given "why men should 
go to church, and what churches are for" : "The 
church is a place of entertainment and if it does 
not furnish attractions sufficient to draw the peo- 
ple there is no reason why any one should go." 
"The church is a tyrannical institution, trying to 
bind fetters on the minds of the people and com- 
pel them to think as the authorities of the church 
direct." 

The idea ought to be inculcated continuously 
that a sacred edifice is a temple of God, the place 
to Worship ; to pay homage to the Holy Trinity, 
to adore the "King of kings and Lord of lords." 
His sanctuary ought to be reverenced. It is "the 
gate of heaven" to waiting souls. 

The cry is heard, "Show us the Father and it 
sufficeth us." Hearts are thirsting for refresh- 
ing drafts the church can supply from the ever- 
lasting hills of God. It is her mission to direct 
parched souls to the Fountain of Life. Through 



26 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

many crises the Church has passed victoriously. 
She has been smitten from without and from 
within, but by the grace of God she still survives. 
The Church is the divinely instituted means of 
grace, for the evangelization of the world. Give 
it its rightful place in the heart and mind, and 
supreme happiness will be yours. 

"Thy chosen temples, Lord, how fair! 

As here thy servants throng 
To breathe the humble, fervent prayer, 

And pour the grateful song. 
Spirit of grace, O deign to dwell 

Within thy church below! 
Make her in holiness excell. 

With pure devotion glow. 
Let peace within her walls be found: 

Let all her sons unite 
To spread with holy zeal around, 

Thy gospel's glorious light. 
Great God, we hail the sacred day 

Which thou hast called thine own! 
With joy the summons we obey 

To worship at thy throne." 



"IS THE INFINITE KNOWABLE?" 

TO think of the Infinite in the abstract, we 
have in mind an Idea. If we think of the 
Infinite as being concrete, we have in mind the 
picture of an Object. If the Infinite, the un- 
bounded, limitless First Cause, cannot be compre- 
hended by the mind, is it impossible to grasp the 
Boundless Power by the center of the moral life ? 
We believe the regiment of men who deny out and 
out the existence of an Infinite Being is decreasing 
in number 'daily. The Atheistic doctrine is very 
pessimistic. The darkness of the blackest night 
envelops it. No hope of a dawn resides in it. 
The unbeliever says: "There is no God, or In- 
finite Being; there is no Christ, no heaven, no such 
thing as immortality; Death is the end of all." 
Such a system eliminates the direct knowledge, or 
intuitive faculty. It refuses to recognize within 
man a force capable of awakening compassionate 
tenderness, and denies inherent consciousness, 
which provides aspiration for things beautiful and 
good. 

27 



28 'Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

The doctrine that the limitations of the mind 
compel man to take a stand on the fence will 
probably be less accepted on the morrow. How 
can "knowledge consist of sensations," in the ab- 
sence of consciousness? Is the mind mere cohe- 
sive substance, ready to be impressed by sensa- 
tions apart from knowledge of "self"? 

We readily believe that the finite cannot ade- 
quately apprehend the Infinite, and that His limit- 
less attributes transcend our highest powers; but 
what about the fact of self-consciousness that 
daily brings to us knowledge of the existence of a 
Power superhuman? We have assurance that the 
Object producing impressions is real and not the 
outcome of a merely fertile imagination ; that it is 
a verity and not a will-o'-the-wisp; that it is an 
active, producing force, and not an ideal creation. 

It has been contended that "Thought is merely 
a necessary result of the structure of the brain, 
and this is strictly an effect of physical causes. 
Our moral nature, with all its aims of duty and 
devotion — our spiritual nature, with all its ideals 
of dignity and nobleness — are simply transformed 
sensations, which again are themselves but com- 
binations, at a long remove, of material particles 
that chanced to exist in the original fire mist, out 
of which the solid globe has condensed into its 



"Is the Infinite Knowable?" 29 

present form." "The important feature of this 
scheme is that it aims to dispense with all agency 
of a personal God. All the changes through which 
the universe has advanced, from the diffused and 
homogeneous mist in which it originated, to the 
present varied and multiform structures of vege- 
tal, animal, and human life, are results of a single 
process, the same in all its features at the begin- 
ning and at the end of the scale. 'All are conse- 
quent upon certain simple laws of force;' and they 
indicate, of course, no intelligence, no will, and 
no moral aim." A "fundamental verity" is ad- 
mitted. "For various reasons, the Fundamental 
Reality, out of which all phenomena arise, is de- 
clared to be not cognizable by the mind of 
man. 
The Infinite is forever unknowable." 

Since nothing produces nothing an authorita- 
tive Something or Somebody has exercised a pre- 
dominant influence from the beginning of things. 
The mind of man will not be satisfied with any 
theory that states the universe came into being 
by accident. A vastly diffused fire-mist is pre- 
supposed. The mighty mass was condensed by 
the radiation of heat, and the working of the 
laws of gravitation. Supplied to this is an imagi- 
nary axis and a rotary motion. In order of time 



30 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

a fragment was thrown off which formed a planet; 
and the process was continued until all the 
planets which make up the universe were formed. 
What about the beginning? Is the world "an 
endless chain of causes"? The rational being of 
man demands an Adequate Cause. From the ef- 
fects daily seen and experienced there is sufficient 
knowledge gained to assure us that behind all 
things there is an Intelligence. An Absolute and 
Infinite Creator, Who, through revelation, makes 
Himself known to finite minds. In moments of 
serious thought can man help thinking about some- 
thing higher than himself? The roughest hut that 
is built for shelter from the scorching sun in sum- 
mer and the cold chilly storms in winter is evi- 
dence of a purpose in the human mind. Then 
why should it be beyond the realm of understand- 
ing to ascertain some idea, or ideas, concerning 
the purpose or purposes of the master Mind? If 
the Universe were stiff and still, then there might 
be grounds to explain away the assumption of an 
Absolute Intelligence. Everywhere in the cosmos 
there is seen an intelligent method. Addison was 
inspired to write: 

"The spacious firmament on high, 
With all the blue ethereal sky, 



"Is the Infinite Knowable?" 31 

And spangled heavens, a shining frame, 
Their great Original proclaim. 

"Soon as the evening's shades prevail 
The moon takes up the wondrous tale ; 
And nightly to the listening earth 
Repeats the story of her birth. 

"What though in solemn silence all 
Move round this dark terrestrial ball; 
What though no real voice or sound 
Amidst their radiant orbs be found; 

In reason's ear they all rejoice, 
And utter forth a glorious voice, 
Forever singing as they shine, 
'The hand that made us is divine.' " 

Though the external world is divided from the 
internal world by an impenetrable veil, the body 
and soul are in unity. 



THE BASIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS BASED 

NOT ON MAN'S INTELLECTUAL NATURE 

BUT UPON HIS MORAL NATURE. 



God cannot be perceived by the physical eye; 
but He can be seen by the eye of the spirit. He 



32 'Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

may be heard in a peal of thunder, or seen in a 
flash of lightning, or discerned riding on the wings 
of the wind. He speaks in a thousand ways to 
us, and reveals Himself to our consciousness in 
many forms. Henry Ward Beecher illustrates 
the conceptions of Deity thus: "One stands in 
Milan Cathedral, under the nave, and looks up 
into the mysterious depths, until it seems as 
though he would exhale and fly into space. There 
in the brooding darkness, the feeling of reverence 
weighs upon his soul. And the Milan Cathedral 
to him is that which it seems to be when the low- 
lying sun has shot through the window and 
kindled the whole interior. At the same moment 
there stands upon the roof another man, and 
about him are those three thousand statues, carved 
and standing in their several niches and pinnacles ; 
everything looks like the bristling frostwork in a 
forest of icicles; and far above and far on every 
side swell the lines of beauty. How different is 
his conception from that of the man who stands 
in the nave below! Again a man stands outside 
looking at the cathedral's fretted front and its 
wondrous beauty and diversity, while a fellow com- 
panion and traveler is on one side looking also 
at the exterior. Here are four men — one before 
the structure, one beside it, one on the roof, and 






"Is the Infinite Knowable?" 33 

one in the interior; and each of them as he gives 
his account of the Milan Cathedral speaks of that 
which made the strongest impression on his mind. 
But it takes the concurrent report of these men to 
represent that vast work of architecture." Each 
man according to his capacity has a conception of 
God. 

Man instinctively responds to a conceived, In- 
finite Being. God not only directs the processes 
discerned in organic forms, but He guides the will 
of the man who trusts in Him. "We fix the tele- 
scope and look through it with a glass that shows 
the greatness of riches and of power which men 
have ambition for. Then we lift it to the orb 
eternal and there is nothing but a blur. We try 
then the glass of intellect, with the majesty of 
ideas, and the interpreting power of philosophy; 
but there is no God beyond that it interprets to 
us. We take the purity of heart, the tenderness 
of love, the sweetness of divine element in man; 
through that we look toward God, and instantly 
there springs up before us a conception, heaven- 
filling, of the glorious orb, transcendent beyond 
our calculations, with majesty of beauty and 
strangely mingling colors. We begin to say: 'O 
my God, I have heard of thee with the hearing of 
the ear, but now mine eyes see thee ; I humble my- 



34 u Wm% the Resurrection a Factf 

self in the dust!' ' There abides in the human 
heart a need of divine direction. Aspirations oi 
the social and intellectual faculties may be satis- 
fied, and still there will remain "An aching void, 
the world can never fill." When the waves of sor- 
row roll like might}' billows, and the soul seems 
alone on the sea of life: How pathetic! Only 
the conscious presence of the Infinite God can 
provide adequate comfort and hope. "A Chris- 
tian worker in a large city sought to lead a sceptic 
back to God. 'It is all very well.' he said. 'You 
mean well, but I lost faith in God when my wife 
was taken from me. It is all very well: but if that 
beautiful woman at your side lay by you dead and 
cold, how would you believe in God?" Within 
one month, through the awful tragedy of a rail- 
way accident, the Christian worker was himself 
deprived of his wife. At the funeral service, in 
the presence of an enormous crowd, he said, 'Here 
in the midst of this crowd, standing by the side of 
my dead wife as I take her to burial, I want to 
sav that I still believe in God, and love Him and 
know Him.' " 

It may not be possible to fully comprehend the 
Infinite God, nevertheless, we may know Him. 
We may hold in our hand a drop of water, though 
the vast ocean is beyond our grasp. A grain of 



"Is the Infinite Knowable?" 35 

sand indicates the numberless grains on the sea- 
shore. A miner was converted in a revival meet- 
ing. At his werk in the mine one day, he sang a 
gospel hymn. A mate working near by, who was 
agnostically inclined, asked him what he was sing- 
ing about. The converted miner replied to the 
effect that he was singing praises to God. "Who 
is God?" "I can't give thee a proper definition 
of God, maybe, but He's so big that He rules the 
world, and He's so small He lives in my heart." 

A sleeping child may be awakened by sounds 
caused by the gnawing of rats at the woodwork of 
the sleeping apartment. No intellectual explana- 
tion on the mother's part will suffice to restore 
peace in the child's mind; the child's hand in moth- 
er's hand, and the consciousness that a parent is 
very near will produce the desired effect. Our 
hand in the hand of God, the consciousness of His 
presence, and of our love to Him, combine to ob- 
tain "the peace that passes human understanding." 

God is not only the Infinite Creator and Con- 
troller of the Universe, sitting on a throne, situ- 
ated in an immeasurably distant sphere; He is "our 
Father," and He dwells gloriously near us, yea, 
"nearer than hands or feet." 

"A man of business returning to his home at the 
close of day, was more courteous than usual to 



36 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

the bootblack who cared for his shoes. After- 
wards a change was noticed in the conduct of the 
lad; he would perform little extra duties for the 
business-man, apparently without any view to ex- 
tra pay. The man finally asked the bootblack 
what moved him to such actions, and he replied: 
"Once you called me 'my child,' and before that 
time I thought I was nobody's child." 

The kind words and friendly attitude, spiritual 
qualities, found a response in the bootblack's 
heart; a new conception became his, and his spirit 
rejoiced. When the Israelites were emancipated, 
the Infinite God moved before them as their guide, 

"By day, along the astonished lands, 
The cloudy pillar guided slow; 

By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands 
Returned the fiery column's glow." 

His presence is with us still, and though unseen, 
the consciousness that He is here may be our ex- 
perience. The spiritual awakening resultant from 
child-like trust in Him inevitably leads to the 
knowledge of divine sonship, a state that enables 
the adopted to say, "Abba, Father." A little girl 
sat on a seat in a railway train, one day, seemingly 
traveling alone. She appeared to be quite uncon- 



"Is the Infinite Knowable?" 37 

cerned. A gentleman asked her if she wasn't 
afraid of riding alone. With wide open eyes she 
stared at her questioner and said: "There can't 
nothing hurt me on this train, because my papa's 
the conductor." In the keeping of our father, 
God, we are perfectly safe. As we journey 
through life the Divine Conductor will direct us, 
and shield us from danger. The Universal Fa- 
therhood of the Infinite Creator implies compas- 
sion and affection. The right conception of Him 
will come when the disposition to view Him by 
means of the spiritual faculties is given. When 
we attend the rendition of an oratorio, the sense 
of hearing is used. If we visit an Art Gallery our 
object is to look upon the pictures exhibited; if 
we are present at a floral display, not only is the 
sense of sight brought into play but the sense of 
smell, also, by which the fragrance of the flowers 
stimulates the human faculties. Through the 
sense of faith, if you will, God is perceived and 
knowledge of His Fatherly goodness is imparted 
through the spiritual faculties. We reach cer- 
tain conclusions by the sensual process, we arrive 
at certainties by the intellectual process, and by 
the spiritual process we obtain knowledge of the 
Infinite, and the force of reality is obtained 
through faith. 



38 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

"My God, I know, I feel thee mine, 
And will not quit my claim, 

Till all I have is lost in thine, 
And all renewed I am. 

I hold thee with a trembling hand, 

But will not let thee go, 
Till steadfastly by faith I stand, 

And all thy goodness know." 



"THE HOLY BOOK" 

WHAT is the Bible? A book containing 
law, history, prophecy, poetry? Yes, it 
is all that and more. A holy God spoke to holy 
men, whose minds were stimulated and exalted, 
and the result is seen in the Holy Book. Critics 
of many sorts have cavilled at the Bible but have 
failed to supply solid filling to the cavity thus 
made. We have been told that the book of Gene- 
sis does not harmonize with science. Does it pre- 
tend to be a scientific text-book? It depicts a spir- 
itual idea. The two accounts of creation are puz- 
zling, from the standpoint of details; but there 
is agreement on the chief points. To whom shall 
the chief glory be given for the Bunker Hill 
achievement? To Prescott, or to Putnam? The 
main truth that the battle of Bunker Hill is an 
historical fact has not been eliminated by the dif- 
ferences of opinion regarding the precise com- 
mander of the American forces. Welcome to the 
scientific spirit of the man who studies impartially, 
and with knowledge and propriety, questions of 

39 



40 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

dates and authorship, and authority. Destructive 
criticism is not necessarily the result of adept judg- 
ment, and being very often of a biased nature, gen- 
erates doubt and unbelief in the minds of sincere 
persons. The Bible is the supreme guide to con- 
duct. Its office is in the realm of the spirit. As- 
tronomy treats of the magnitude, distance and rev- 
olution of celestial bodies ; botany has to do with 
plants, and biology treats of living tissue. Each 
has a function to perform in its own sphere. The 
Bible — the holy book — treats of human life, its 
character and ultimate purpose. It is a guide in 
temporal and eternal life. It is a text-book on the 
art of right living. The holy book is the fountain 
from whence flows our chief knowledge of God: 
It is the record of the revelation of God to man. 
Though the human factor is evident, with inherent 
fallibility, the stamp of divine impression, and the 
influence of the Infallible Creator, are clearly dis- 
cerned in its pages. What method of inspiration 
did God adopt? Much time has been consumed 
in attempts to answer that question. It matters 
not whether the words were literally dictated to 
man as a mere machine, or whether his mind were 
stimulated and exalted, allowing individual play of 
the faculties : The question of paramount impor- 
tance is: "Is the Holy Book inspired?" It Is 



"The Holy Book" 41 

Inspired, and It Inspires. It is related that 
Goethe said: "It is a belief in the Bible which 
has served me as guide of my moral and literary 
life." Matthew Arnold : "To the Bible men will 
return because they cannot do without it." The 
great scientist, Faraday, said: "Why will people 
go astray when they have this blessed Book to 
guide them?" 

"We are told that the very first edition of 
Carey's translation of the New Testament into 
Bengali, imperfect as it was, was not without its 
self-evidencing power. Seventeen years after, 
when the mission extended to the old capital of 
Dacca, there were found several villages of Hin- 
doo-born peasants who had given up idol worship. 
They traced their new faith to a much-worn book 
kept in a wooden box in one of their villages. No 
one could say whence it had come ; all they knew 
was that they had possessed it for many years. It 
was Carey's first Bengali version of the New Tes- 
tament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 

Ruskin said: "All that I have taught of art, 
everything that I have written, every greatness 
there has been in any thought of mine, whatever 
I have done in my life, has simply been due to the 
fact that when I was a child my mother daily read 
with me a part of the Bible, and daily made me 



42 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

learn a part of it by heart." The regular study of 
the Bible gave color to his thought and his style, 
as the following excerpt will show : "Did you ever 
hear, not of a Maude, but of a Madeleine, who 
went down to her garden in the dawn, and found 
one waiting at the gate, whom she supposed to 
be the gardener? Have you not sought Him 
often — sought Him in vain, all through the night 
— sought Him in vain at the gate of that old 
garden where the fiery sword is set? He is never 
there; but at the gate of This garden He is wait- 
ing always — waiting to take your hand — ready to 
go down to see the fruits of the valley, to see 
whether the vine has flourished, and the pome- 
granate budded. There you shall see with Him 
the little tendrils of the vines that His hand is 
guiding — there you shall see the pomegranate 
springing, where his hand cast the sanguine seed 
— more : you shall see the troops of the angel keep- 
ers that, with their wings wave away the hungry 
birds from the pathsides where He has sown, 
and call to each other between the vineyard 
rows, 'Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that 
spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.' 
Oh, you queens, you queens ! Among the hills 
and happy greenwood of this land of yours, shall 
the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have 



"The Holy Book" 43 

nests; and, in your cities, shall the stones cry out 
against you, that they are the only pillows where 
the Son of Man can lay His head?" 

Sir Walter Scott, during his last illness, asked 
his son-in-law to read to him out of the book. 
"What book?" he asked. "There is only one book 
— the Bible. In the whole world it is called 'The 
Book/ all other books are mere leaves and frag- 
ments: The Bible is the only complete, perfect 
book. Its light sheds brightness over the grave 
and into eternity. It is the only book." The 
writers of the books of the Bible were divinely 
prepared for the reception of the Revelation of 
God, and its communication to men. The influ- 
ence of the Holy Book peculiarly elevates and 
stimulates not only the emotions but the intellect 
of the devout reader. In a letter of advice Charles 
Dickens gave to a friend on the eve of departure 
to distant lands he wrote: "I have put a New 
Testament among your books. It is the best book 
that ever was or will be known in the world, be- 
cause it teaches you all the best lessons by which 
any human creatures who try to be trustful and 
faithful to their duty can possibly be guided." An 
aged saint, w T hose Bible was well marked with pen 
and pencil, was asked what the marks meant, and 
the old man, bent and bowed, to whom the Bible 



44 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

was a vast treasure, replied to the effect that he 
had tried them and found them to be sources of 
strength. 

"How precious is the book divine, 

By inspiration given ; 
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine, 

To guide our souls to heaven." 



THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE IS INCOMPARABLE 

Disregarding for the moment the Bible as the 
immutable Word of God, and viewing it from 
the literary point of consideration, it will be ob- 
served that it stands unequalled in the realm of 
books: Its clear and choice language gives it a 
peerless place in the literature of the world. The 
stars of the first magnitude in the literary firma- 
ment received their brilliance from the great lu- 
minary — the Bible. It has, for centuries, molded 
and shaped the choice of words, manner of ex- 
pression, and style of eminent men of letters. It 
is a perennial fountain of noble and pure Eng- 
lish, where weary travelers in the rugged area of 
composition have found refreshment in its never- 
failing draughts. How sublime are the historical 
accounts given by Moses and Samuel ! The breath- 



"The Holy Book" 45 

ings of Job and the sweet songs of David. 

How inspiring are the prophetical utterances 
of Isaiah and Jeremiah ! How absorbingly inter- 
esting the Gospel narratives are ! How stimulat- 
ing are the parabolic representations ! How acute 
is the reasoning of the Apostle Paul! What a 
charm and peculiar power the revelation of John 
holds out ! The reader is strangely elevated to a 
sphere of sublimest influence. The Bible grips the 
spirit as no other book has the power to do. A 
University professor of English literature held 
a Bible in his hand before a large group of sum- 
mer students and said: "This is an unknown book 
to a great host of people. I know whereof I 
speak. I read the story of Naboth's vineyard to 
forty of my senior students, who knew not whether 
I was taking my selections from Dickens, the Post 
or the Bible. I have quoted the most familiar 
passages, and not half a dozen were able to tell 
whether they were from the Old or New Testa- 
ment. I inquired in what part of the book Peter's 
writings were found, and not one could tell. One 
of my students considered it a dull book. A little 
while after I read it to the class — when most of 
the young men listened with rapt attention. They 
considered it sublime. I turned to one of the 
stories and they said it was unique. When I told 



46 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

them the selections were taken from the Bible sev- 
eral of them blushed." 

The following utterance is attributed to Mr. 
Huxley: "Consider that for three centuries the 
Bible has been woven into all that is best and 
noblest in English history, that it has become the 
natural epic of Britain, and is familiar to noble 
and simple, from John o' Groat's House to Land's 
End; that it is written in the noblest and purest 
English, and abounds in exquisite beauties of mere 
literary form; and finally, that it forbids a man 
who never left his native village to be ignorant of 
the existence of other countries and civilizations, 
and of a great past stretching back to the farthest 
limit of the oldest nations in the world. By the 
study of what other book could children be so 
much humanized and made to feel that each fig- 
ure in that vast historical procession fills, like 
themselves, but a momentary space between two 
eternities, and earns the blessings or the curses of 
all time, according to its effort to do good and 
hate evil, even as they also are earning their pay- 
ment for their work." 

John Bright was once asked what the secret of 
his oratory was, and he replied: "The secret of 
my oratory is that I have changed mine to speak 
the language of the Bible." 



"The Holy Book" 47 

"What good comes from reading the Bible ?" 
was a question once put to Mr. Gaynor, and the 
following reply was received: "An immense deal 
of good. It soothes you and makes you content 
and charitable. I might add that it educates you 
and gives you a good literary style." "Lincoln's 
Gettysburg speech, the purest piece of English 
from an American, is the tongue of the Bible." 
Familiarity with the Holy Book tends to the cul- 
tivation of chaste diction, and in it is to be found 
rare wisdom. 

The Word of God is Immutable. "The grass 
withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of God 
shall stand forever." The Bible which is the reve- 
lation of God to man, appeals to the conscience. 
It pierces the marrow of man y s nature and actu- 
ates him to spiritual service. God in Christ was 
understood by Martin Luther to be a severe Gov- 
ernor. Meditation upon scriptural passages 
brought light and inspiration. His inner life was 
nourished and developed by the Word of God. 
Through the telescope of faith he saw glimpses 
of the love of God. "Gradually he was led by his 
Biblical studies to see the full light of the Gospel 
truth. The books which he read and studied over 
and over again till they became part and parcel 
of his very being were St. Paul's Epistles to the 



48 "Was the Resurrection a Fact 



V" 



Romans, and the Galatians and the Book of 
Psalms. He began to see that the righteousness 
of God is not merely an attribute of the great 
Judge of mankind, but that God in his compassion 
freely gives His righteousness to the believer, and, 
together with this gift. He bestows also full sal- 
vation and life eternal. Having taken hold of this 
great truth, he was made free." "Now I :::: r.r 
happy, now the whole of the Bible, even heaven 
itself, was open to me." 

At the outset of John Wesley's University- ca- 
reer he studiously read the Bible. "I began not 
only to read, but to study the Bible, as the one and 
only standard of truth, and the only model of pure 
religion." Several sr.;ie:;:s formed a society for 
Bible study, and were often called in derision 
"Bible-bigots and Bible-moths." because they "fed 
upon the Bible, as moths do upon cloth." 

In after years the influence of systematic study 
of the Bible was to him a mighty impetus. He 
acknowledged the Holy Book a supreme author- 
in,-. John and Charles Wesley, and George 
Whitefield were drawn together to a common cen- 
ter of spiritual life. "They have one Gospel — 
the gospel — for poor, wretched, sinful men and 
women: in which Gospel they have faith, that 
greatest faith which is based on their personal 



"The Holy Book" 49 

experience of its power. They are at one in the 
acknowledgment of human sin, and of human re- 
demption by Christ Jesus ; in the acknowledgment 
of the supreme work of the Holy Spirit, of the 
absolute authority of Holy Scripture, and of 
preaching as the divinely ordained instrument of 
human conversion." 

It is said that "Back of every great man is a 
great woman." The mother of Abraham Lincoln 
was great in her affection and religious fervor. 
She taught him the way of noble deeds, and cre- 
ated an atmosphere filled with devotion to high 
ideals. Abraham as a boy listened eagerly to the 
reading of the Bible and the narratives thrilled 
him. When he could read, the Bible became a 
much-used reading book. In his public life his 
familiarity with the Scriptures was demonstrated 
again and again. The Bible actuated him to sac- 
rificial service, and in critical periods when per- 
sonal sorrow as well as perplexities of office 
seemed overwhelming, he found comfort in the 
Word of God. "He possessed his mother's old 
Bible which he read so much in his boyhood, and 
he was wont to read it daily, usually just before 
he took his lunch. He would throw himself upon 
the lounge and read a few moments." A friend 
one day entered his office as he was reading. 



50 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

"What portion of the Bible do you like best?" he 
asked. "The Psalms are my favorite," was the 
reply. u Yes, the Psalms have something for every 
day in the week, and something for a poor fellow 
like me." He frequently carried his mother's 
Bible to and from the Soldier's Home, preferring 
it to any other. Referring to that Book once, he 
added: "I had a good Christian mother, and her 
prayers have followed me thus far through life." 
It is related that Captain Mix, who was a friend 
of the family, said: "Many times have I listened 
to our most eloquent preachers, but never with 
the same feeling of awe and reverence as when our 
Christian President, his arm around 'Tad,' with 
his deep earnest tone, each morning read a chap- 
ter from the Bible." 

During his Presidency, Abraham Lincoln re- 
ceived from some colored people a costly copy of 
the Bible. After the presentation he replied very 
tenderly, adding: "It is the best gift which God 
has ever given to man. All the good from the 
Savior of the World is communicated to us 
through this Book. But for that Book we could 
not know right from wrong. All those truths de- 
sirable for men are contained in it. I return you 
my sincere thanks for the very elegant copy of the 
great Book of God which you present." 



"The Holy Book" 51 

A sincere and devout perusal of the Bible arouse 
and animate the spiritual faculties. It is not neces- 
sary to be superstitiously devoted to the Holy 
Book. It is said: "A philanthropically inclined 
gentleman sent a modern plow to the interior of 
the Dark Continent. The benighted natives were 
very pleased with the gift. They painted it, set 
it up, and immediately began to worship it." The 
Bible is inherently divine, yet that does not exclude 
the use of reason in its interpretation. 

THE VITALITY OF THE BIBLE INVIGORATES AND 
UNCHANGEABLE IS ITS LIFE-IMPELLING POWER 

Books come and books go; this book goes on 
forever. The advanced civilization of the fore- 
most nations of the world, doubtless, is the result 
of the influence of the Bible. If there is anywhere 
to be found a force strong enough to bring into 
oneness the various branches of the Christian 
Church, it will be discovered in the Word of God. 
That there are too many divisions in Christianity, 
and too much overlapping, is generally conceded 
by religious observers. The Bible silently wields 
an inexplicable power, and it ought to be given 
right-of-way in the life of advanced civilization. 
Ulysses S. Grant said: "Hold fast to the Bible as 



52 "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

the sheet-anchor to your liberties. Write its pre- 
cepts in your hearts and practice them in your lives. 
To the influence of this Book we are indebted for 
all the progress made in true civilization, and to 
this we must look as our guide in the future." Mr. 
Stanley, prior to leaving for Africa, was asked by 
a friend what he would like for a present, regard- 
less of expense, and he replied: u Give me a 
Bible." Not long ago in a small town in one of 
the Middle States a man died. He had scoffed 
at religion; in fact, he boasted of his lack of be- 
lief in a Supreme Being. One day he was stricken 
down with a deadly malady, and when he saw the 
end approaching, he cast aside his mask of disbe- 
lief and asked for the Great Book. Perusal of 
the Bible brought back memories of the days when 
he learned simple, yet powerful lessons at his moth- 
er's knee. He made his will and made his peace 
with his Maker. His will was a curious docu- 
ment. In it he stipulated that his fortune be spent 
in purchasing Bibles for free distribution, order- 
ing that each Bible bear the inscription: "Read 
and Obey." 

A story is told of an old Fijian and an English 
Earl — an infidel — who visited the Fiji Islands. 
The visitor said to the chief: "You are a great 
chief, and it is really a pity that you have been so 



"The Holy Book" 53 

foolish as to listen to the missionaries. No one 
nowadays would believe any more in that old book 
which is called the Bible ; neither do men listen to 
that story about Jesus Christ." When he had fin- 
ished, the old chief's eyes flashed as he answered : 
"Do you see that great stone over there? On 
that stone we smashed the heads of our victims to 
death. Do you see that native oven over there? 
In that oven we roasted the human bodies for our 
feasts. If it had not been for these good mission- 
aries, for that old Book, and the great love of 
Jesus Christ, which has changed us from savages 
into God's children, you would never leave this 
spot!" The effect of the Bible upon foreign peo- 
ples, generating superior aspirations, in trans- 
formed lives, is indubitable proof of the adapta- 
bility of the Word of God, as though it were writ- 
ten particularly for them. 

The Bible is beyond adequate estimate not only 
because it is the Peerless Book, but because it is 
rich in sacred associations. "When the Pilgrim 
Fathers embarked in the Mayflower in 1620, and 
when, eight years afterward, the great Puritan im- 
migration from Old England to New England set 
in, they carried with them — as their best posses- 
sion — in fact the only one which was to have a 



54 'Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

lasting value — King James* Bible, upon which their 
infant state was built. It was their only book, 
their only readable book. It was the ark of their 
covenant, and really, they did find within those 
sacred covers their shelter from the stormy blast 
and their eternal home. Their faith was founded 
upon it." "If the common schools have found 
their way from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; if slav- 
ery has been abolished; if the whole land has been 
changed from a wilderness into a garden of plenty, 
from ocean to ocean; if education has been fos- 
tered according to the best light of each genera- 
tion since then; if industry, frugality and sobriety 
are the watch-words of the nation, as I believe 
them to be, I say it is largely due to those first 
emigrants, who, landing with the English Bible in 
their hands and in their hearts — established them- 
selves on the shores of America." 

The Bible was the daily Companion of father 
and mother. They read the sacred pages until the 
golden threads of divine promise were woven into 
the fabric of their spirits. They conversed upon 
the glories of the Word until their hearts burned 
with the glow of everlasting love. They rested 
upon it in the silent hours of the night, and 
dreamed of the mansion in the Father's House, 
and the life that never dies. 



"The Holy Book" SS 

"How precious is the book divine, 

By inspiration given; 
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine, 

To guide our souls to heaven. 
It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts, 

In this dark vale of tears; 
Life, light and joy it still imparts, 

And quells our rising fears. 
This lamp, through all the tedious night 

Of life, shall guide our way, 
Till we behold the clearer light 

Of an eternal day." 



"A PURPOSE IN LIFE" 

THE "origin of life" is an age-long question, 
and a complete answer to it has yet to be 
given. We are cognizant of the fact of a mys- 
terious force which produces daily, in the spheres 
of animal and plant life, incontradictable results. 
This force we call life. What is life? That is 
the question. The Holy Bible states: "And the 
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; 
and man became a living soul." Henry Drum- 
mond in "Natural Law in the Spiritual World" 
informs us that "the scientific world has been rent 
with discussions upon the origin of Life" for two 
hundred years. "Two great schools have de- 
fended exactly opposite views — one that matter 
can spontaneously generate life, the other that life 
can only come from pre-existing life ! Experi- 
ments were made — glass vessels were filled with 
organic matter, and boiled to kill germs of life. 
Though the vessels were securely sealed, life ap- 
peared in great quantity. The result was the an- 

56 






"A Purpose in Life" 57 

nouncement that life was 'capable of springing 
into being of itself.' " 

What about the possibility of undestroyed 
germs being in the air inside the flasks? Were 
there not forms of life bearing "the most surpris- 
ing and indestructible vitality"? Professor Tyn- 
dall showed that "the germless air never yielded 
life." Dr. Dallinger showed that "many animals 
could survive much higher temperatures than Dr. 
Bastian had applied to annihilate them. Some 
germs almost refused to be annihilated — they 
were all but fireproof" 1 "The attempt to get the 
living out of the dead has failed." 

Out of all known forms of existence, man only, 
we understand, can intelligently perceive a design 
in the Universe and properly appreciate a De- 
signer. Bearing a moral likeness to the Creator, 
man, as a part of the divine scheme of things, is 
placed in the world for a purpose. To seek to 
avoid the purpose is not only a mark of cowardice, 
but a characteristic of base ingratitude. Of course, 
if man were a mere machine he would be minus 
the sense of individual responsibility. The intel- 
ligent instinct implies responsibility. 

A Purposeless Man ordinarily takes the least 
hopeful view of life. To him a mole hill diffi- 
culty takes on mountainous dimensions. He is 



58 'Was the Resurrection a Factf 

like a compassless mariner moving over the sea of 
life not knowing whither he is going. He discerns 
the ferocity of a thunderstorm, rather than the re- 
sultant clarified air and invigorated soil. 

He is like the man whose outlook on life has 
been dismal indeed, and as he lay dying he turned 
to his two sons and said: "I have had many 
troubles, but most of them were imaginary ones.' , 

A Man of Purpose, in the very nature of the 
case looks upon life from the optimistic viewpoint. 
Such an outlook provides a mental stimulus to en- 
ergy. He listens to a fierce gale on a cold night 
in Winter, and as he is thus bent, one thought be- 
comes supreme in his mind, that the storm will 
bring to humanity untold blessings. 

Life's sorrows and disappointments do not de- 
prive him of the sense of the beautiful and the 
good. The shadows of earth pass away, and the 
light of heaven illuminates his soul. When the 
sun has descended below the horizon, and the mys- 
tical night opens, he discerns in the lesser lights — 
the silvery moon and the twinkling stars — bless- 
ings and good-cheer. The man who has a prop- 
erly directed aim in life almost invariably pos- 
sesses the quality of cheerfulness. The nobility of 
his purpose ennobles every subordinate aspiration. 
He is enabled to cultivate a power over himself, 



"A Purpose in Life" 59 

that stifles expression of bubbling bitterness, or the 
discouragement of adverse circumstances. The 
great literary character, Dr. Johnson, whose 
moods varied frequently, was inevitably impressed 
by the cheerful and optimistic mood of his phy- 
sician, of whom he wrote to a friend: "Our old 
friend, Mr. Levett, who was last night eminently 
cheerful, died this morning." 

The man of noble purpose derives from life its 
greatest blessings and its rarest joys. He who 
aims at the stars is sure to hit a little higher than 
the man whose object is a rail fence. It is said a 
young lawyer approached Webster with the sug- 
gestion that the legal profession was crowded to 
overflowing. The statesman answered: "There 
is plenty of room at the top." 

What object have I in view? What is the end 
I desire to attain? These and similar questions 
confront the young man on the threshold of life's 
responsibilities. He, himself, decides very largely 
the plan of the future. To him in proportionate 
measure belongs the power to turn the "stream of 
destiny into the river of success." "James Watt 
was one of the most industrious of men. When 
the little model of Newcomen's steam-engine be- 
longing to the University of Glasgow was placed 
in his hands to repair, he forthwith set himself 



6o "Was the Resurrection a Fact?" 

to learn all that was then known about heat evap- 
oration and condensation — at the same time plod- 
ding his way in mechanics, and the science of con- 
struction — the results of which he at length em- 
bodied in his condensing steam-engine. " 

The success of the individual spells out the suc- 
cess of the nation. To depend on the influence 
of a friend who is affluent for a position, regard- 
less of fitness or preparation, is a sign of appar- 
ent weakness. A promotion for an incompetent 
man will not carry with it ability sufficient to in- 
sure success in competitive tasks. 

The experienced mountaineer is efficient only 
after arduous struggles in ascents. His prepara- 
tion and equipment enable him to climb the steeps 
without extrinsic aid. The man of comprehen- 
sion, of cheerful personality-, of rational training, 
together with the perseverance born of conscious 
power, strikes again and again, aye and again, at 
even- obstacle to success until it is displaced. 

In the struggle of life, opposing forces will be 
confronted: and only by tenacious continuance will 
they be conquered. When the friends and towns- 
men of Robert Fulton heard of his determination 
to build a boat which would run by steam, they 
said, "The man is beside himself, he is losing his 
mind. v As his work progressed, they watched 



"A Purpose in Life" 61 

with strange curiosity the worker. The time drew 
near for the launching of the boat, and they shook 
their heads, and declared it would be wrecked at 
its testing time. 

Vast crowds gathered to witness the predicted 
plight of the vessel and the utter confusion of 
Fulton. When the last prop was removed and 
the last rope was cut and the vessel glided swiftly 
into the water, instead of jeers and hisses from 
the people, there went up from that crowd hur- 
rahs of joy, and waving of hats, and congratula- 
tions for Fulton. 

Remember, man of purpose, a lofty aim impels. 
Permit lofty ideals to actuate you. Having found 
your lifework, become a master. Press forward 
to the mark you have set until victory crowns your 
efforts. 

"Do noble deeds, so shalt thou 
Make life one glad sweet song." 

Keep ever in mind that character is the su- 
preme criterion. Let the mind of the Master 
actuate you. 

"Wealth is yellow dust that will presently sift 
through your fingers. Honor is a wreath of 
laurel, that fades with the setting sun; but char- 
acter will live forever." 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 

rig agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: April 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 
1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Townshqj. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 085 540 6 $ 



